Nenu Sailaja

 

For the first time a teaser, “Nenu Sailaja” prompted me to hit the blog to scribble. Seems Sravanthi movies gonna hit the bull’s eye with this one after series of not so commercially sound products….same for Ram, who is struggling to fit into one image, owing to influx of fresh blood in Tollywood. His successful template formula has been copied so many times in the recent past that even Gopichand, changed lanes and scored a hit with Loukyam. Then there is a big successful stratum of lover boys around. Nikhil and co are now leading the concept based ventures… leaving him little space to fit in to a mask. So what could be his next genre to explore and establish, a lover boy, family entertainer, action hero, concept based themes or all of them.

Meantime the teaser of “Nenu Sailaja” erstwhile “Hari Katha” (title changed now) is “fresh” and suggesting us that Ram chosen the lover boy path in the lanes of Arya. By mentioning fresh, I meant the orchestrated string by DSP, the controlled n calculated release of expressions by Ram and exhibition of innocence by Keerthi Suresh.  Seems Kishore Tummala, Second Hand Fame, is eyeing for his First commercial success. Kudos to the whole team who cut this 49 seconds teaser, which definitely raised the curiosity levels about the move and music release, before that.

I believe no other teaser in recent times quite reached the perfection levels as this one, with crisp content, revealing the elements and raising the expectations (the same way Hari looks up) and more importantly an addiction for repeated watch for his “Ah…” at the end of teaser to the response of “I am not in Love with You”……....but we are!

“Nenu Tanuja” watched this trailers numerous times already..."Ah…"

Half the battle won…wishes and hope that this “Ready” hero is Ready for much deserved Hit…

...Venky!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

oohalu gusagusalade

 The one positive chord of having classics as new movie titles is, the classic magic gets revived for new genx. I believe it does generate some royalty also from (You) tubes and spotifys.

One such movie, we gonna talk about here is Ohalu gusagusa lade, a classic track from 1963 Blockbuster “Bandipotu”, the product from legends, B Vithalacharya, NTR, Sundar Lal Nahtha, Doondi and Ghantasala.

Fast forward to 2013, Avasarala Srinivas (Srini) created his magic with the simple story narration, natural conversations, soulful tracks (from Kalyan Koduri) and decent performances from the limited & choosen cast. Srini declared his admiration for Woody Allen, early in the movie, by a telugu version of “Annie Hall” poster, maybe he wanted to warn us about limited supply of regular tolly commercial elements and tiny experimentation in the narration.

Diving into the characters, Srini did a perfect balancing act of a hobbledehoy with a decent support from rest of the cast, Rao Ramesh, Hema, Posani and Prudhvi. Harish Koyalagundla got a full length comedy act (I believe first for him so far) here after his struggle all these years, including missing a connecting flight in Dubai for Biryani, true foodie Andhrite. His dialogues of L1/H1 in the movie are loosely linked to his real life events. His summarised struggle is here : http://www.idlebrain.com/news/focuslight/harishkoyalagundla.html

From the promos, I was quite surprised why did they cast Rashi Khanna but after watching the movie, my notion was wrong. She was perfect to emote a character with the shades of 19 & 25 years. There was a scene where she asks Venky to “Let life unfold” when he proposes her at 19^th birthday. Srini shows us his writing depth here, the matured approach towards life, of a practical adolescent (yes, per WHO definition, 10-19 years) to a dreamer, whose eyes are set at sky.

Naga Shourya, another promising youngster to look forward from Tolly. He has already done close to half a dozen films and couple in kitty with major production houses including Varahi, after struggle of half a decade in the industry. His act is a perfect balance of appeaser and a dreamer. He is a perfect blend of, guy next door and urban lover boy amongst his contemporaries.

The lyrics are absolutely weaved in to the story. Such instance is where Venky’s mother reads the letter, which does carry few notes which were used in a song in the first half. The songs takes the movie forward and the lyrics are pretty much integral part of conversation of the move. Kalyan, who admits himself working as a composer, just for earning money to lead a comfortable life with two kids. His magic worked here again, giving him his long outstanding recognition since his “Aithe” days. The Mirchi radio for best song award is a bonus. He has got so much music left in him.

The movie shot extensively in and around Visakhapatnam and splendidly captured the picturesque locals to the advantage of the key flash back plot. It was a beautiful lie to create Araku yellow fields at the sea bed, though which Venky rides Prabhavathi to Vizag beach.  

So what the cinema itself is a True lie!!!

I was curious to know why this title for the movie and that prompted me to listen to the 1963 classis track couple of times (link below). The movie carries the emotions of first stanza of the classic track to certain extent… specially the struggle of Venky in the second half.

Hope Srini’s Oohalu will take us to few more exciting outings in future on Telugu Celluloid…. 

....Venky

100 Crore Club Cinema

Now a days the discussion of the movie starts with budget right from the launch to post release. Nobody measures, whether the movie was good or average or anything else. It’s all about collections. Thanks to the web world where we instantly get the geographical share of the movies, which serve no purpose at all to the cinegoers, except for the argument among fan clubs.  Earlier trade pundits used to compare/predict the current movie range with past movies of the same Hero or Director or production house but presently the comparison is orange to apple, Prabhas vs NTR vs Mahesh vs Pawan Kalyan. I believe (with my limited knowledge), the whole hype around collection facilitates the producers to arrange the finances to launch/float and sell the forthcoming productions.

NTR’s last outing as Temper was highest grocer in his entire career so far, that does not prove this is the best product. We have seen his potential in Simhadri, Rakhi many more and Puri's in Idiot, Pokiri n Neninthe. Same way Loukyam & Pandaga Chesko, template movies declared hit in terms of collections but what about the movie content, except locations everything including dialogues was same from previous templates from writer duo.

Mahesh’s “1”, so far the best attempt at the thriller genre by a top league actor and director in the recent past. But then the debacle of the movie apparently forced Mahesh to stop experimenting and he pulled himself out of Maniratnam’s bilingual project with Nagarjuna.  This project is now underway with Karthi and Dulquer Salman, recent heartthrob of Molly & Kollywood.

The point here is we do not mind a good movie raking moolah, because end of the day, a hit movie makes the whole industry, starting from a light man to cinematographer, happy and works as a “Sacred Fig” for many small scale movies. But the issue is gauzing the movie quality by its Crore club achievement.

100 Crore or 100 Days, which the real yardstick! Discussion starts here….

...Venkaat!

Srimanthudu Trailer Tracks & Takeways...

…”Ye kannooo yepudu choodani Pustakamai veeru...

                   Chadivestunnaraa…..anandanga  okarini  inkokaru”…

 

Claps…Cheers and respect for DSP & Ramajogayya Shastri garu!

Guys time up, come out of the excitement, exhilaration and enthral canvas of magnanimous ‘Bahubali’. Time to turn heads toward our conventional wholesome family entertainers. Who else other than Mahesh is better to get us out of Bahubali mania, at this situation.

Bahubali is a blockbuster and claiming as many awards as it can around the globe. However, somewhere it lacked the EQ/Emotional Connect as Chatrapati and entertainment element like Magadheera. May be the reason, we are served with fully cooked half meal. Hope the Part II connects all these quotients of the beginning part and becomes a sumptuous meal, complete.

 Coming back to Koratala Shiva’s wholesome entertainer, DSP came up with fresh sound and voices for ‘Srimanthudu’. The tunes are hummable & singable and seem to have long shelf time, till couple of weeks post release, at least. The album will not blow you away like Arya, NVNV or Gabbarsingh but the way DSP used the voices & modulations, will definitely tempt you to listen the tracks back to back couple of times for sure, specially the track above (web link is below). I kept the tracks on repeat mode indefinately on spotify, for now. The best from DSP after Gabbar Singh.

 Ramajogayya Shastri garu’s lyrical values are great with simple & commercial words, carrying few threads of story, here and there. The USP of DSP is that, he still believes in lyrics and voice dominating the instruments. The whole album gives you a blurred conscious of previous sound tracks from Khaleja, Athadu and recent S/O Satyamurty. However, the whole package is fresh, catchy and contagious; the tunes will keep on resonating for couple of weeks to come, which is a great take off for a movie before its lands in theatres.

Kudos to Madhi for the promising visuals, the trailers are rich with colours and locations in the back drop with stunning Mahesh & gorgeous Shruti on the front.

Takeaways from Trailers, one….Get one Bi-cycle to sweat it out and to look cool…two…start thinking of paying back to the roots, where we belong to.

Great! Wishing the whole team a Dimma tirige hit!!!

 ...Venkaat!

Venkatesh...the Other perspective!

NTR and ANR were at their helm, when a new root crept up the wall to claim the throne and to become The Megastar for two decades. He is a self-made man who build the empire of mega clan from the scratch. The 75 year celebration of Telugu cinema was the dais for his exit from Tolly to Poli. After his exit, top league personalities started becoming the Chief guests of various Tollywood functions, though Megastar was regular at all Mega stages.  The calmest and most non-controversial among the big four is Venkatesh, who never seen talking or even promoting his own movies, till recent past.

However his recent elevation of himself onto the PR stage is heart-warming, the gem of them all was TANA speech, where he revealed his other side.  His diction was perfect, thoughts were crystals and ideology was curious over 15 minutes where he discussed about the inner happiness, another dimension of Daggupati family.  Ramanaidu garu was aggressive, ambitious and more risk propensity personality quite opposite to Suresh Babu, who is quite organised, risk averse and believes in the culture of “no double standards” in family structure. Industry hates him because his projects move at a snail’s pace but when you hear him; you would like to have him as an elder in the family.

The movies are powerful medium and protagonists are larger than real life heroes for Telugu people. Let them inspire the generations to take the path of enlightenment…  

...Venkaat!

Bahubali & Pushkaraalu Impact

It’s heartening to see the pouring revenue in months old Baby state, Andhra Pradesh, of late, through cinema and spiritual pilgrimage.  The Telugu habitants die for movies and visit Tirupati after birth. Celebration means cinema and pilgrimage means Tirupati, where most of per capita income is spent.

The Karma principle of “You get back something from whatever you've put into it. The value of something is the direct result of the energy and intent that is put into it”, seems working in Andhra. Bahubali is raking moolah, Tollywood has never seen before with a straight cut of almost 1/5^th into states treasury as entertainment tax and on the other side Godavari Pushkaraalu fuming the vicious circle of economy, from small street vendors to state run transport.  These are first few drops of monsoon on the barren economy of baby AP.

The state bifurcation has been a classical example of national and regional political Fiasco. The political migrations have preceded the distribution of revenues, assets and manpower between the states. One CM is basking in the glory of lifetime achievement; the other administrator is struggling to live up to the towering expectations as high as Cyber city, amidst corruption, law and order and administrative hassles. The future is equally exciting with what next task for political outfits like Jana Sena and Loksatta; the only two appear to be honest at this moment.

Coming back to economic front, hope and pray for more extravagant revenue streams as magnanimous as Bahubali and as large as Godari to build a new shelter for baby AP as beautiful as Mahishmati!

   ...Venkaat!

Writer/Of Trivikram Srinivas

 
 
 
 

 
 
 

Writer/Of Trivikram is being loved more than the Director/Of him. During his struggling days, when he was asked by a Posani, what do you know; he said I know Telugu language. He was given entry to the woods for his sole strength over the language. His witty one liners are & and his crisp short stories inspire us to take decisions in real life, of course with heart not mind.

His short story of “Crossing River without family” in movie AD, preaches us the simple morale of being together. In his latest venture also he did that “Tiger” story with aplomb. His shorter version of stories and one liners are apt for this generation of 2 minute Maggi. They can’t stand to anything taking its natural time. Everything needs to be very quick even at the price of health, taste, success, love and life.

His work inspires us to love language, love our parents, love our roots and live values.  How many of his contemporaries are brave enough to come up with a tag line “Viluvale Aasthi”. He knows magic is wonderful than the logic, let’s his magic preach us, teach us!!!

Kudos 3vikram, for culminating 3 aspects, glamour+drama+wisdom through one commercial medium. 

 

Venky...

Farah Khan at London Asian Film Festival

 

 

Director’s Master Class

The last leg of the evening at London Asian Film Festival had started with cheers for Farah Khan, the director (Mai Hoon Na, Om Shanti Om, and Happy New Year), actor, choreographer and proud mother of triplets (Om, Shanti and OM-Bollywood way of naming her triplets).

She was back here after conducting Choreography master class session on Saturday (21st Mar). This session was conducted by Gareth Jones, producer of The Mughals. She was grilled with questions about her journey, inspiration, hurdles and functioning of Bollywood. Some of the interesting excerpts of the evening are here.

·         Her first movie with Shahrukh, Mai Hoon Na took three years before it became a reality.

·         She is pretty strict on sets but serves sumptuous food, which is her weakness.

·         She said Shahrukh deserves the moolah since he has the stamina to raise 250 Cr business on a good movie.

·         She can’t work on scripts which does not include Bollywood and Shahrukh.

·         To my questions she had responded that the script finalization is the toughest phase of film making process and Bollywood remakes of south Indian movies are now the thing of past.

·         She had suggested an amateurish screenplay writer to join a film school and learn by watching movies.

·         When this guy from Patna requested her to vet his script, she said it is taxing and she can’t take the responsibility, however she asked to share the synopsis to have a quick view.

·         Mr. Raj was assured to be cast in her next film, if it is shot in London.

She was very candid at the questions thrown upon here by the host and guests. She even obliged to have selfie session with most of us post the session along with tips to take selfies.

She is ditto like her movies, chirpy, bubbly and dramatic. All the best Farah ji!

 

…Venky

 

 

British Media & The Asian Women’s contribution

The afternoon at London Asian Film Festival continued with panel discussion by distinguished personalities on topic ‘British Media & The Asian Women’s contribution’, after the stage was handed over by Loveena Tandon, from TV Today network.

The guests on the panel were, Baroness Flather – the first Asian women to receive a peerage, Shyama Perera – presenter and newscaster, Mamta Kash -actress and producer and Madhav Sharma – well known theatre personality with half a decade experience on stage.  

The discussion was inspiring with varied thoughts and personal experience of the guests. Respected Baroness shared her experiences of studying at the school run by sister of Sarojini Naidu and the emotional involvement with independence movement. She was of the opinion, that these might be the reason behind her not liking the Indian soaps in the British media, to name a few, Desi Rascals, Indian Summers, which does not represent the true facts of Indian culture/independence era. She also supported the thought of chasing dreams and having no plan Bs.

At one point Madhav Sharma and Shyama Parera locked horns over role of Asian ethnicity in British Media. Though, Mamta was candid enough to settle the scores and move ahead into the evening by opening the house to Q&A.

The stunning aspect was the clarity and curiosity of younger Asian generations in Briton, UK. The questions asked by them does not approve of their age of early teenage. Might be, this generation is reaping the benefits of their grand and great grand refugee (Asian) generations from African continent into UK, in early 70’s, as a result of The ethnic cleansing of Indians/Asians in Uganda by Idi Amin.

 

…Venky

London Asin Film Festival

The SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies), University of London was painted with Asia Film circuit. The focus point was ‘Women in Media’ complimented by short film, Panel discussion and Director’s classes by our own Om Shanti Om Farah Khan. The short film and its insights are:

The World before Her

The film by Nisha Pahuja charts the lives of two different spectrums of Modern India, Durga Vahini Camp and Miss India Pageant. The former is an orthodox Hindutva camp run by VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) to safe guard Hindu religion, culture and values through any means. Whereas, the second strata is represented by chosen bunch of beautiful, aspirational, and radical teens ready to grab the world of opportunities by cleaning themselves from the  moral values campaigned by the Durga Vahini group, to certain extent. 

The methodical approach by Nisha takes us through the lanes of Bhopal, Rajasthan and emotions of Prachi from Durga Vahini camp, Ankita shorey & Ruhi Singh from 2011 beauty pageant. The footage covered all the 19 contestants of the pageant including Rakul Preet Singh, an upcoming actress of 2015, in Tollywood. The movie compares frame to frame the lives of both the groups and the people associated with them and their philosophies.

The Durga Vahini camp starts with self-defence training for girls from villages and ends at high note of graduating them with a mind-set not only to safeguard themselves but the religion even at the cost of violence, protests and killing. On the other side the journey of beauties starts with weighing, scrutinizing each body part, showcasing the assets, Botox sessions (wherever n whenever needed) and ends with crowning one amongst 19 second generation of aspirational souls.

At the penultimate stage of both the worlds the self-realisation of both Prachi and Ankita Shorey is heart touching. Both these girls support their own cause but they hear their inner voice pronouncement of their journey against the social, geographical and SELF values and customs.  In their own words….

‘How far we should compromise and go for the title’ by Ankita Shorey

‘I support VHP philosophy and will not marry forever, however would suggest girls to get married and live up to the expectations of first generation’ by Prachi.

The film ends there asking us to start thinking the contrast philosophies of modern India. The Q&A session by Nisha Pahuja addressed few unresolved queries, though.

 

…Venky

S/O Satya Murthy...Musician's Magic Unveiled

…”Find the success in the process of working not in the result”…by Trivikram

Another catchy album from the kitty of DSP is out for S/O Satyamurthy. The evening was glittering with the star cast of the movie and industry associates. Dasari was chief guest for this event, for the first time for a mega event (I believe). His calculated speech was addressed towards Allu but not Mega which attracted the wrath of Mega fans (below video), though he mentioned about Power star at one point. Devi Sri penned lyrics for three songs in this album.  The tunes are addictive and hummable with rich lyrical values. Whole seven songs are prominent enough to create hype till the movie is released.  

No.	Tune	Lyricist	Singers
1.	Chal Chalo Chalo	Ramajogayya Sastri	Raghu, Sooraj Santhosh, Rita
2.	One, two, three	Devi Sri	Suraj Santhosh
3.	Seethakalam	Sri Mani	Yazin Nizaar
4.	Super Machi	Devi Sri	Devi Sri, Shravana Bhargavi, Magizhini Manimaran
5.	Come to the party
6.	Jaaruko	Sri Mani	Sagar, MM Manasi
7.	Vachaadu	Devi Sri	Javed Ali

Along with the songs, few quotes from Trivikram are also released. Who needs a movie from Trivikram. We need few simple thoughts of life in cinematic dialogues, for which he creates a plot to weave the philosophy in to it.  O machu tunuka…..

·         Bharya ante Nachi techukone baadhyatha, pillalu moyyalanipinche baruvu… Na drishtilo, Nanna ante mariachi poleni o gyapakam…

·         Baagunnappudu lekkalu maatladi, kashtaallo viluvalu maatlada koodadu.

If you remember Jalsa, the voice over by Mahesh Babu said, “Yuddam lo gelavatam ante shatruvuni champatame kadu…” this thought is still continued in this movie in the form of a song which goes like this…..

………Yuddham gelichinodu Veerudu Soorudu, yuddham vidisotede Devudu.

A thought...Ala aithe ee Jeevana Yuddham gelichenduka, vidichendukaa? Asallu Yuddhame enduku!!!

All the best S/O Udaya Bhaskar!

Audio Song Juke Box Link 

Dasari Fire on Mega Fans

...Venky...

Chiru 150th Film

150 is not a number these days, so far concerned with Tolly viewers. It is an occasion to celebrate, milestone to reach and a chance to prove. Hence the stakes are high, expectations are enormous and the wait is paining.

Mega Power is producing this celluloid extravaganza with the Root of Mega Dynasty. Lot of Speculations and combinations are in the circles about the star cast and technicians. Puri has already shown his interest in this venture with an addition glitz that he will rope in Amitabh in a cameo (Refer this Stunning Video below). It is said that he has also registered the title “Auto Jani” with the Film Chamber. The bigwigs of South film industry are in the wish list of directors ranging from Shankar, Trivikram, VV Vinayak, Puri, Raghavendra Rao and Guna Shekar.  On the script front it is rumored that Paruchuri brothers are sweating it out for the right script where as it was also in the news that BVS Ravi discussed a line with Mega Camp and developing the thread. Seems the Mega circle has narrowed down the flavor of the script to be an out and out commercial entertainer rather than a historical or message oriented.

On the glamour front again the names of Aishwarya, Anushka, Tamannah, Shriya, Praneetha, Tabu and Trisha are in the race along with other contemporary starlets of Charan, Bunny & Pawan. So, it would be an interesting feat to watch these beauties with 60 years amaranthine Mega grace for his 150^th.

One thing is sure, that the stage is set, arrangements are in high throttle, media is making moolah out of gossips and each cinema lover is enjoying this journey. This curiosity so raised that all eyes are focused on dates and upcoming projects of star directors of Indian Film Industry.

I trust and Wish for the combination of Intellectual Convulsions of Trivikram and the Mega power, to be the gun powder for this 150^th Missile.  

What you Wish for….. !!!!

Amitabh Bachan, Varma, Puri agreement with Chiru for 150^th

^....Venky

S/O Satyamurthy....Viluvale Aasthi

Viluvale Aasthi….rare instance of where a caption is more powerful than the title itself. The caption raised levels of expectations and curiosity about another family entertainer from Matala Mastro Trivikram.  If his speech is enough motivation to read a book, his movies are no lesser than milestones of Tollywood.  From a maths teacher to assisting PosaniMurali Krishna and writing for K Vijaya Bhaskar (Swayam Varam, Nuvve Kavali, Nuvvu Naaku Nachaav fame), this man has secured  a top place in the list of sensible directors. The apt word will be Visionary, because not only he directs, he writes sharp n quirk dialouges, waits ages to get the hero to immerse himself into the character (envisaged at script level) and pics best chords from DSP.

His constant struggle within himself to contain the domination of writer up on director and vice versa is always a delightful dish for Tolly viewers. Believe his innocent smile is capable enough to stop this struggle to make an appearance outside.

Just to quote an example to the statement above, Actor Sunil describes an incident about Trivikram. During struggling days, one fine morning Sunil has got Rs. 30 (£ 0.32) which is last balance they got for themselves. So, Sunil was of the opinion that they are assured for Lunch but no clue about further meals and discussed the same with Trivikram.  Immediately he got up and took Sunil to nearby café and spent the whole money on idlis. Already stunned by this action, Sunil got an additional preach of his life time, “Never Procrastinate”. In other words….Instead of waiting till lunch time and try for dinner, why don’t we spend the money 'NOW' and start the struggle 'NOW'.

Now...Coming back to S/O Satyamurthy, the beats are peppy, glamour is aesthetic, star cast is promising, and technicians are proven. What else do we need for a good cinema.        Say Hello!!!

PreeLook

Say Hello Teaser...

……Venky

Mukunda

Once in a while a movie comes and stands apart from the rest for its narration and characterisation. Mukunda is clear winner in the category of intelligent movies. The tempo is as slow as real life but the conversations are sharper and deeper. If you can bear the motion and immerse yourself with the characters around you, then it’s spot on.

Commercially this product might not be in the fascinated crore clubs and a great masala launch pad for Mega lad but a vibrant sign for Telugu intellectual/interesting cinema culture. The trend is here again, where we started focussing on title cards for writers and technicians. It is too early to start comparing Srikant Addala with the likes of Vishwanath and Balachander for real/revolutionary & simple cinemas but he and a bunch of new directors have started the journey towards meaningful movies. However the fascination (of production houses) for quick moolah might be a big hurdle for this journey. Temporary has been a good friend of trends so far, hence the thrust behind the collections and exorbitant first week screens should be passing by very soon.

Coming back to the movie, the narration and dialogues are strong enough to stop you from craving for routine commercial ingredients…. Do we really need them or forced up on us movie after movie? The songs are decent but the need of the hour for Mickey is to come out of his Happy Days/Godavari set of chords.

On the performance front Mega boy was decent within the scope and Prakash Raj, Rao Ramesh are perfect fit.  Unfortunately the heroine is a weak thread in the whole plot except for some songs and second half sequences.

This new breed of director will keep entertaining us till the time good/not so good cinemas are the only categories of assessment and not the exaggerated collections.

The upcoming venture with Prince tentatively titled Brahmotsavam is real acid test for Addala, would he be still interested (after subtle success of Mukunda) in real cinema or get tempted towards box office attraction!!!

Mukunda Dailogues

....Venkaat